The Ups and Downs of Quick - Prequel to Hot Like a Pixie
by readbetweenthesigns
Summary: By request, a peek into junior year and what really happened between them after the adoption of their baby. Starting from Never Been Kissed. This story is now at its end - to see the conclusion of the tale, please turn to Hot Like A Pixie. Thank you
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: No claim to ownership of the Glee characters or material contained within this fiction is implied. The other stuff is all mine.**

**A/N: By request, a look at junior year and the Quick we were never shown.**

"Hey," Puck said as his call was answered. "I'm out, my mom just picked me up."

"It's so good to hear your voice," she whispered, almost in tears. "Talk to me, just….just talk to me," Quinn waited for him to just speak.

"Talk about what?" he asked, she could hear from his tone that his mouth had turned up at one corner, that half smile that made her melt. "My mom had to go in to work," Puck said, "I have to stay here with the brat. Want to come over? Check out my guns?" his smile grew bigger as he heard her sharp intake of breath. "I heard you've been singing with Ladylips," he said, a little less smile in his voice, "Finn told me. I don't care, I just want to…."

"I'll be there in twenty minutes," Quinn said in a rush, cutting off what he was going to say. She hung up and rushed to her closet, pulling out a box hidden way in the back. "You are so going to enjoy this," she muttered to herself, inspecting the tiny garments.

Thirty minutes later Quinn pulled up outside the house she used to live in. She sat for a few seconds taking deep breaths to calm herself down. She got out of her car carefully and walked up to the front door. Just as she lifted her hand to knock, the door opened.

"Hey," Puck murmured, taking her hand and pulling her inside, looking around to make sure they hadn't been seen by anyone. "Brat's in her room getting stoked on candy and Mario," he said, pushing Quinn up against the closed door, leaning in to her, feeling her through his entire body. "Oh, God, I have to be inside you. Now," he groaned, parting the edges of her long coat. "Fuck," he breathed. "You drove here like that?" he asked, his eyes wide. "Thank fuck you didn't get in an accident or stopped by the police," he grinned, his lips finding the pulse point in her throat, his hands sliding round to cup her ass and press her further in to him.

Quinn's hands went to the front of his pants. "Here. Now," she insisted, so desperate to feel him filling her. Puck happily obliged.

"Ladylips not giving it to you?" he asked a while later, once they were both sated and could speak again.

"Sam is a really good guy," Quinn insisted.

"But he's not getting into your pants though, is he?" Puck asked. He knew from Quinn's actions and reactions that she hadn't been with anyone in the six weeks that he'd been locked up. And he for sure hadn't. Puck felt himself harden again, still inside her. He looked into her eyes, a smirk forming on his face as he flexed deep, deep inside her. He bent his knees a little and picked her up, wrapping her legs around his waist, still inside her. He climbed the stairs, with a little difficulty, still inside her. He opened his bedroom door and closed it again with a kick of his foot once they were in his room. He was still inside her. He sat down on his bed, Quinn astride him, still inside her. Quinn rose slightly then fell, and again, and again, her hands holding tightly to the back of his neck, and again, their eyes locked together, her breath hitched as she felt him flex inside her again.

Puck took over, his arms still wrapped around her waist, he lifted her and brought her back down in time with his own thrusts. He stood again and turned, laying her on his bed, still buried deep inside her, her coat ruffled up underneath her.

The second time they both lasted a lot longer. Puck collapsed onto Quinn, breathing heavily, his whole body trembling with the effort. They both turned their faces to the door as it opened.

"I'm telling mom," Puck's little sister cried as soon as she spied Quinn. "Mom said you weren't allowed to have anyone over, she said so, I heard her," Sarah chanted, thrilled to get one over on her big, mean brother.

"Go boil your head, Sarah," Puck snarled. He really wanted to yell at her to go fuck herself but even he wouldn't say that to an eight year old. At least she didn't have a clue what he and Quinn had just been doing.

"_And_ I'm telling mom you made another baby with Quinn, mom said you weren't allowed to do that either," Sarah finished triumphantly. She squealed and ran as Puck picked up the clock from his nightstand and hurled it in her direction. "I'm still telling, Noah," Sarah called from the hallway.

"Brat," muttered Puck. "I'm already grounded for a month, if she does tell mom it'll probably be two months," he grumbled.

"My mom would shit a brick if she knew I was here with you," Quinn muttered, covering her eyes with her hands. "And if Sarah tells your mom, she'll call my mom and tell her."

"There's no way they're going to allow us to be together," Puck agreed. "I mean, I know that Ladylips wants to date you, that he tried to kiss you and you wouldn't let him, maybe we can use him to…." Puck shrugged, trying to work out scenarios in his head as he was speaking, trying to think things through, ways to meet.

"Use him like a cover, you mean?" Quinn asked, thinking things through herself. "That could work. It'd mean spending time with him outside of school too though," she said slowly, going through the possibilities. She looked at Puck, her hands smoothing over his cheeks. "Are you sure you could handle that? Seeing me with another guy?" she asked, needing to be sure.

"Can you handle seeing me with another girl?" Puck countered. "I mean, if this is going to look real it'd be better if I was with someone, look like I'm getting it from somewhere," he shrugged.

"Who though?" Quinn asked, thinking through the girls who might want to date Puck. Unfortunately, there were far too many possibilities.

"Santana?" Puck asked. "I mean, we're just friends now and she's got something going with someone she wants to keep secret, maybe we could keep each others' secrets," he pondered.

"Santana?" Quinn questioned, her voice suddenly hard. "I'd rather she didn't know any secret of mine. Maybe you could tell her something that doesn't involve me, I don't know, tell her being locked up made you look at life differently but you don't want to spread that around or something?" Quinn asked, trying to come up with ideas.

"We'll work it out," Puck said, "but right now," he smiled and bent to kiss her, "I am so ready to go again," he whispered, moving slightly, rocking in to her, creating delicious friction. "You are so full of my lo…shit, birth control," he realised suddenly, having poured himself into her twice already.

"Not a problem," Quinn smiled, "I never stopped taking the pill even when you got locked up," she admitted. "I thought it might be a wise move, I knew it was only a matter of time till we were here again."

"Good move, Fabray," Puck said huskily, dipping to taste her lips once more, his tongue seeking permission to enter her mouth.

More than an hour later Puck ran out to Quinn's car to pick up her bag from the back seat. Back in his room he tossed it on the bed. He joined Quinn in the shower. "I brought your bag in," he told her. "I hope it has a lot more underwear in it, like the stuff you arrived in," he said against the wet skin of her shoulder.

"No, it's got my clothes in it," Quinn said with a little laugh, nudging him with her hip. "And I think you've had enough for today, I bet there's nothing left in you to come with. I mean, I know you've been saving it up for six weeks but…." she laughed harder.

"Who was saving it up?" Puck asked. "Why do you think my guns are this big? It wasn't from lifting weights, you know," he teased with a sly grin, showing her the age old hand movement. "I had to keep myself sane somehow," he winked.

"You are such a perv," Quinn whispered over her shoulder just before she kissed him again.

Puck turned the water off. "Fuck," he breathed, "was that the front door?" he asked. "Shit. What time is it?" he said, getting out of the tub and wrapping a towel round his waist.

"Don't ask me, you threw your clock at Sarah," Quinn reminded him.

Puck went to look out of the window. "Crap," he muttered. "My mom's home. Get dressed quick," he instructed, throwing her bag at her. Puck picked up Quinn's discarded, exceptionally sexy, luscious red lingerie and hid it under his bed. He straightened up the bedclothes and dragged on his pants and a shirt. "I can hear her on the stairs, hurry the fuck up," he whispered, desperately willing Quinn to be magically dressed. In just a few steps his mom would open his bedroom door and catch him in a predicament that she had expressly forbidden.

Quinn sat, composed and looking elegantly dressed - despite being without any underwear - on the side of the bed furthest from the door, the side that she used to occupy, her legs crossed daintily at the ankle, her hands clasped lightly together in her lap, looking the absolute essence of innocence and virtue. From the bottom of the bag Quinn had produced several schoolbooks and had them open at various pages. She'd also placed a few pages of work that she had stolen from this bedroom when she left to go and stay with Mercedes. Puck glanced and saw his handwriting on the pages. He gave Quinn a questioning look, his eyes narrowed, wondering how she had managed that.

"Noah, I told you," Mrs Puckerman said as she opened the bedroom door without knocking. "No visitors. You are already grounded for one month, minimum. You will be home every afternoon straight after school. You will go to temple twice a week. You will mow the lawn and do the yard work. You will wash my car and you _will not_ have a girl in your room," she finished as she looked at Quinn. "Hello Quinn, how are you?" she asked, still in the same 'shouty' tone that she'd just told Puck off in.

"I'm fine, thanks," Quinn replied, almost shyly. "I just thought that Noah could use a little tutoring, maybe a little coaching, especially with his spelling," Quinn grinned, "and after everything that happened in the past, I thought it was the least I could do," she said, smiling at Puck's mom.

Mrs Puckerman looked round the room suspiciously, trying to detect anything untoward, out of the ordinary. Noah couldn't look angelic if he tried but Quinn looked genuine. Mrs Puckerman nodded. "Fine. As long as that's all that's going on in here," she said, her questioning gaze falling on her son.

"Mom," Puck cried, "like either of us wants to go through _that_ again."

Quinn watched Puck shake his head in disgust. "School stuff is all that's going on in here, Mrs Puckerman, trust me," Quinn smiled.

Mrs Puckerman nodded, acknowledging Quinn's words, trusting her, more than a little sliver of relief shooting through her. Sarah had got it wrong when she said Quinn and Noah were up here making another baby, but at eight years old, she probably thought that kissing made babies.

Puck turned to Quinn once his mom had closed the door behind her. "School stuff?" he asked, smiling.

"We've always managed to find time and places to have sex at school," Quinn replied, her smile just verging on teasing. "I see no reason for that to stop. Do you?" she asked.

"Nuh uh," Puck replied, watching Quinn saunter round to his side of the bed. The second Quinn reached him his hands went to her hips, holding her close to him again. "Secret lovers?" Puck whispered to Quinn against her lips feeling her smile at his words.

"Secret lovers," she agreed, kissing him for all she was worth. "I have to go, my mom will be home from work soon too. Text me later," Quinn said, hoping that she didn't sound too desperate.

"Skype?" Puck suggested, as much as he loved sexting, especially with Quinn, he loved the freedom that Skype gave them, more.

"Text me when you log on," Quinn told him, leaning in for one last kiss before pulling her coat back on.

Puck walked Quinn to her car. "Thanks for helping me with that work, I need to get my grades up otherwise my probation officer will be on my case," he said, not quite quietly, knowing his mom was lurking near the front door. "See you at school," he said with a wave and a wink, his back still to the door.

"Santana, come on, please?" Puck pleaded quietly. "I know you have something going with Ellie, I just want a cover story," he said.

"Why?" Santana asked. "You've fucked nearly every girl in the school, ask one of them," she said, not willing to give up all of her secrets in exchange for what Puck wanted. Not that she had figured out yet what Puck wanted. But she would.

"Call it a revelation," Puck sighed, "call it an epiphany, call it what you want but I have to concentrate on school work, I'm so far behind already and if I'm 'dating' you then I won't be expected to be chasing girls and missing even more school work. See? Its win-win for both of us," he smiled endearingly, even though she couldn't see him.

"Fine," sighed Santana, seeing that for the moment it would be to her advantage. "But if anyone ever finds out about me, you're a dead man," she ground out.

"It's cool," Puck replied, "each to their own, but if you ever want to invite me over to watch….." he said with a smile.

"No thanks Puckerman," Santana replied with a grin. "You just keep giving me the loving looks and the odd grope while you stare longingly at Quinn's boobs, don't even try to deny it," she advised, "you've always had trouble keeping your eyes off her boobs and ass. And your hands," she said gleefully. "Better watch it though, I think she's with Sam now and he's not as useless as Finn. He might actually take your head off if you start messing with her again."

"I won't start anything with Quinn again, I promise," Puck replied quite honestly. Well, it was true. He wouldn't be starting anything _again_ because it had never ended. Everyone just thought it had when she moved to Mercedes' house then moved back home with her mom and hardly seeing anything of each other through the summer. They just decided to keep it to themselves that they were still to all intents and purposes a couple.

"Alright guys, let's get down to business," Mr Schue said as Tina and Kurt walked through the choir room door. "First, let's welcome back Noah Puckerman," he said with a smile then watched Puck behave like his usual macho asshole self. "Puck, I hope your time in juvie has taught you a lesson or two about right and wrong," he said, nodding.

"Are you kidding me?" Puck replied, "I ruled that place, all I did was crack skulls and lift weights all day," he said with a sneer.

From her seat in the back row, as far from Puck as she could be, Quinn took her cue. "Wow, what a catch, I can't believe I ever let you go," she said sarcastically.

The class moved on to sectionals information and Mr Schue's latest attempt at forming lasting team bonds. As they moved seats to separate into boy/girl teams Puck caught Quinn's eye. Quinn saw the slightest, slightest hint of a wink and replied to it as they had for the last year, the tip of her tongue poking out at the left side of her mouth. Puck countered with a tug on his right ear. Quinn twirled her left hand through her ponytail. Message received and understood.

"I knew you wouldn't have forgotten the code," Puck breathed into Quinn's throat, his hand sliding up her thigh under her Cheerios uniform.

"How could I have forgotten it?" she asked, her hands roaming his shoulders, pulling him close, "I invented it," she reminded him. Wink of left eye, meet me at lunchtime. Tongue at left side of mouth, where. Tug of right ear, janitor's closet. Left hand through hair, got it. There were hundreds of other combinations but they were the signs they'd used most often, easiest to remember. It worked, they were there, together, unseen.

"I love fucking you on this bench," Puck murmured. "I know the janitor eats his lunch off this bench," he grinned.

"You're just a perv," Quinn replied, pulling her panties aside to allow him entry. "Hurry, we don't have much time," she urged.

"Dude, where did you disappear to at lunchtime?" Finn asked. "We wanted to give you a 'welcome back' lunch," he told him.

"I er I had to call my probie officer," Puck replied, inventing the lie as he went.

"Well, anyway," Sam said, standing up and holding out his hand to Puck. "No hard feelings that Quinn's with me now?" he asked.

Puck shook the outstretched hand and gave a smile that he'd been practicing for just this exact moment. Inside he was saying 'enjoy it while you can Ladylips, you still aren't getting into her pants'. "No sweat," he shrugged. "I'm with Santana now, at least I won't need a buzz kill like you losers," he grinned maliciously. Both Sam and Finn envied him that.

Puck spent less time with his usual band of friends and started spending time with Artie. He gave Artie lessons in breaking the rules, Artie gave Puck lessons in geometry. Puck really enjoyed spending time with Artie, not that he'd admit that to anyone, well, anyone except Quinn.

"He's really funny, you know," Puck said, his finger tracing patterns in the palm of her hand as they lay together on his bed. "He knows all sorts of stuff too, makes it easy to remember when he puts stuff to music," he sounded really impressed.

"I'm pleased that you and Artie are getting along and that he's helping you," Quinn replied, a frown on her face, "but do you really have to take Santana to Breadstix?" she asked.

"Yeah," Puck shrugged. "Artie wants to get back with Brittany, Brittany won't go without Santana, Santana's my cover. I'm sorry, I'll be thinking of you the whole time, I promise."

"Make sure you do," Quinn replied, kissing the very corner of his mouth. "I have a date with Sam tomorrow night anyway," she sighed.

"That makes me feel a whole lot better," Puck grumbled. Even though he'd agreed to it, it was killing him to see Quinn with Sam. He literally wanted to punch Sam's lights out, rip his massive lips off, especially when they were anywhere near Quinn's lips. "How far do you actually let him get anyway?" Puck asked, torturing himself even further. "Do you let him do this?" he asked, sliding his hand up under Quinn's pretty, flowery cropped top stopping just short of her breast.

"No," Quinn smiled, "he doesn't even get to do that _over_ my clothes, never mind under them."

Puck smiled just a little. "So he definitely doesn't get to do this?" he asked, bending to stroke his tongue over her nipple through her top. Quinn shook her head, "or this?" he asked, teasing even more. Puck pulled the top down exposing her bra, his nimble fingers quickly uncovering her nipple. "Or this?" he asked, his tongue flicking over it rapidly. Quinn sucked in a breath and shook her head again. "Cool," Puck murmured, his mouth closing over the sensitive peak. He shifted over her, his mouth never leaving her nipple. Quinn parted her legs automatically to allow him to lie between her thighs, felt against her thigh how hard he was already. "My mom's at my Nana's with Sarah, they'll be back soon," he whispered against her breast, his hand venturing lower to the zip of her jeans.

"We can be Quick," Quinn said with a smile, "I love being Quick," she sighed as his fingers entered her.

"Me too," Puck replied against her throat, feeling her undulate underneath him. Very soon they were joined together in the way they loved best. "Oh God," moaned Puck, "I'm…huh," he shouted as his body exploded inside of Quinn. Quinn trembled, her muscles shivered then relaxed. She felt boneless.

A few days later, they were rocked by another thunderbolt. Puck was in danger of having to go back to juvie to finish out his sentence. Apparently giving Artie advice about pulling girls, making money and stuff like that didn't actually count as community service. Quinn was furious that Puck hadn't discussed it with her. She would have got him doing yard work for free for some of the elderly people in the area, surely that would have been a better option. Puck lost his temper when the probation officer visited school to give him a warning. He even thought about running away. The only thing that stopped him was the thought of never seeing Quinn again.

Puck and Artie made a deal. They still hung together, Artie tutored Puck, Puck improved his grades and did yard work for the elderly in the area for free. Mrs Puckerman was pleased with the improvement in her son. There was one little thing that niggled at her though. She couldn't quite see why Noah needed to spend so much time with Quinn if Artie was tutoring him and Santana was dating him. That was something she'd have to keep her eye on.


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: There is quite a bit recognisable Glee material in this chapter. I don't own that or make any claim that I do. The rest is my own work.**

**A/N: The way things could have been.**

The night before Sectionals…

"No fucking way," Puck spluttered. "I'm not dating _her_. No. Absolutely not. Forget it. Fuck it, I'll tell Sam about us myself," he growled, pacing round the bedroom, glaring at Quinn.

"Santana's getting too close," Quinn insisted. "She keeps watching me, watching us, I think she's figured us out. You have to end things with her. Lauren's the perfect cover," she told him with a hesitant laugh. "I mean, who would ever imagine you'd have the balls to cheat on _Lauren Zizes_?"

"_No one _would have the balls to cheat on Lauren Zizes," Puck agreed. His hands slipped to her hips as Quinn stepped up to brush against his body. "But do I have to? Seriously?" he asked, mock sobbing. "I mean, _Lauren Zizes_?" he asked again.

"Yes," Quinn whispered, drawing his head down towards her own. "You have to," she said then her tongue touched his pouting lips. "Suck it up Puckerman," she said with a smile, "think of it as taking one for the team."

"Only if you take one now," Puck muttered, thrusting his hips against her. "Oh yeah, take it baby, take it," he moaned like a 70's porn star making Quinn giggle.

One week earlier…..

Santana nitpicked and tormented Rachel incessantly after Burt and Carole's wedding, dripping her poison every chance she got. She waited until Rachel lost her temper in Glee club and stood up to her to impart the secret she'd been keeping for months. "That's right Yentl, your sweetheart, he's been lying to you," she sneered. "'Cos he and I totally got it on last year," she told Rachel and took great delight in seeing her face fall.

Finn tried his best to patch things up but Rachel wasn't ready to listen, Finchel was definitely a thing of the past.

After the pep talk from Mr Schue, Puck tried to recruit new Glee members from the group of people he knew best, the football jocks. It didn't go down too well. And the person who saved him from a fate worse than death was Lauren Zizes. The payment she'd demanded had been hefty but Puck had paid it. He'd blocked out the nightmare as soon as he possibly could.

"You need to shower before you come any closer," Quinn semi-teased, her nose wrinkling up, the odour coming from Puck overpowering the multitude of chemicals stored in the janitor's closet. "Don't even think about it," she advised as he crowded her into the bench, until he thrust his fingers under the edge of her panties. Quinn capitulated when he dropped to his knees in front of her. She widened her stance and sucked in a breath, loving every move Puck's talented tongue made. "Oh God," she breathed, her body shivering and jerking as he got her off with his fingers and his tongue. "What about you?" she asked, glancing down at the bulge in Puck's sweat pants.

"It's cool, I need a shower anyways, I just needed something to get the taste of Lauren Zizes out of my mouth," he said with a wink before leaving the closet.

Puck bumped into Rachel in the hallway on his way to the locker room. She looked incredibly pissed off. Hurt and upset. He did his best to comfort her. When she eventually found out about it and how he'd actually managed to cheer Rachel up, Quinn was furious. It sparked yet another series of events.

Rehearsals for Sectionals did not go well. Everyone seemed at odds. Tina felt Mike wasn't concentrating on their relationship, she told Artie that Brittany and Mike were having an affair. Artie was just this side of devastated. No one had the inclination or the energy to sing. Mercedes, as much as she was pleased that Kurt felt safe now, was missing her best friend. Santana was just being a bitch to everyone. Rachel was treating everyone to accusing stares, especially Finn and Santana. Quinn hated singing with Sam and Finn just didn't have it in him to sing anything. Puck was still traumatised from the porta-potty thing and even more so from having to provide Lauren with a quick trip to heaven. Every time he thought about it, he shuddered and looked sick.

As they left the final rehearsal, Finn took the opportunity to speak to Puck. "Dude, I don't know how to say this, but, ermm," Finn murmured to Puck, "don't you think its taking things too far?" he asked.

"Taking what too far?" Puck asked, trying to pretend he had no idea what Finn was talking about.

"This," Finn, said, "this, this Lauren thing," he clarified.

"What do you mean?" Puck asked, not really needing an answer. "Yes," he wanted to shout, "yes its taking things way too fucking far". But he said nothing.

"I mean, I know we need another member but dude, she can't even sing," Finn grumbled.

"Do _you_ want to tell her that?" Puck asked. He watched Finn open and close his mouth like a goldfish, try to speak then stop. "No," he agreed, "thought not."

Finn just shook his head and worried about his friend, watched him walk away with his head down.

Just before the performance at Sectionals…..

The frosty atmosphere in the green room at Sectionals was totally not conducive to a brilliant performance.

"You told Kurt?" Rachel asked Finn as she stormed into the room, hurt that her friends hadn't told her about it.

"I don't remember, maybe," Finn answered quickly.

"About Finn and Santana?" Mercedes asked, flicking through a magazine, bored. "No, I think I told him," she said, looking closer at an article.

"Who told you?" Rachel asked Mercedes.

"Me," Quinn replied. "I think Brittany told me, or maybe it was Puck," she added then regretted it when she saw something in Santana's expression change. "Fuck," Quinn thought to herself, "why did I mention Puck, I could have said anybody but no I'm such a fucking idiot I had to say his name. Shit, shit, shit," she thought.

"Yeah, it was me," Puck agreed, glancing over his shoulder at Quinn who was sat beside Sam, totally freaking out and pretending it was PTSD from being in labour the last time they'd performed in front of an audience. Quinn had told him last night before he snuck out of her bedroom that she detested the way Sam looked at her when they sang together and when he held her hands his palms were so sweaty and yacky that she couldn't help but pull away.

"I'm going to have to do something to get Sam to break up with me," Quinn had insisted. "If I have to listen to yet another pathetic impersonation or kiss those huge chapped lips one more time, I swear I'll puke in his mouth."

"You have to keep up the pretence Q," Puck had urged her quietly, hoping that they didn't wake her mother. "They still won't let us be together and I know our mothers are talking to each other. If they find out about us we're screwed. I'll get sent to military school for sure. And I can't be without you. Ever. Just for a while longer, just till we're eighteen. Ok?" he'd pressed. Quinn had agreed.

"Everybody knew about this but me?" Rachel asked, shocked, hurt, looking around the room.

"Pretty much," Tina replied, giving Mike an evil stare.

"Nobody tells you anything because A, you're a blabbermouth," Santana cut in, "and B, we all just pretend to like you," she finished.

"That's not true," Puck said, "I kinda like her," then was cut off by Finn standing up and defending himself.

"Look, Rachel, when this all happened you were dating another guy so you don't really have a right to be pissed at me about it, ok?" Finn said. "And fine, I shouldn't have lied about it but to be honest that isn't what you care about. You care about the 'Santana' of it all," he told her. Santana waved her hand in agreement.

Rachel took offence at that and said she wasn't going to go out on stage if either Finn or Santana did. Artie jumped on that bandwagon citing Brittany as an adulteress and claiming a broken heart. There was a hell of a lot of bad feeling in the room.

Mr Schue came in to the green room and gave a 'disappointed in you all' speech. He reminded them of last year, how things had gone down at Sectionals then. Puck glanced at Quinn. He sent her a faint wink with his right eye. She poked her tongue out just a little at the left side. Puck stroked a finger across his right eyebrow. Quinn ran her left hand through her hair then the lights flashed announcing their imminent performance.

Quinn couldn't quite keep from cringing and pulling away from Sam while they were singing and dancing for their duet. She hoped it hadn't been noticed by the judges.

Santana's solo was brilliant. During the group dance sequence Quinn trailed her hand across Puck's chest and, unseen by anyone else, blew a kiss at him. The second they got off stage, Puck excused himself to go to the bathroom. He only had to wait a few seconds till Quinn joined him.

"Fucking leggings," Puck grumbled, trying to pull Quinn's black leggings down. "Who's fucking brilliant idea was this for a fucking costume," he asked.

"Mine," Quinn admitted, helping him to shove them down. "Sorry, I didn't think of this particular scenario when I had the costume idea, I was thinking more of Brittany doing back flips over Mike Chang's head, actually. Just get it oh…." she breathed as Puck unzipped his black pants.

"Turn around," Puck whispered harshly, "bend…that's it, oh yeah," he grunted as he flipped her dress up out of the way and thrust into Quinn from behind, her hands resting on the toilet cistern. It didn't take long for them both to be at bursting point. "Shhh," Puck hissed as someone came into the bathroom.

"Puckerman?" Finn called. "Are you in here?" he asked. "They're waiting for us on stage, it's the results," he told Puck.

"Yeah, I'll be out in a minute," Puck replied, a hint of a groan in his voice.

"Man," Finn moaned, "are you taking a dump?" he asked, totally grossed out.

"I'm dumping something," Puck agreed as he shot his load into Quinn, his hand over her mouth to keep her from crying out as she usually did at the crucial moment. He felt Quinn shiver around him, her muscles squeezing and milking him, pressing back against him.

"Well hurry up," Finn urged, still waiting for Puck.

Puck pulled free of Quinn and helped her pull her leggings up. He kissed her as he flushed the toilet then made sure Quinn couldn't be seen as he opened the stall door, refastening his zip as he went. "Dude, you didn't have to wait for me," he said to Finn.

"It's cool, I think the girls are looking for Quinn too," Finn told Puck. "You haven't seen her, have you?" he asked.

"What?" Puck asked, making a show of looking round the bathroom. "In here?" he asked, looking at Finn like he was ever so slightly deranged.

"Yeah, sorry," Finn laughed self-consciously, "stupid question,"

On stage, the MC made the announcement after making a speech about organ donation. The judges had really taken the easy way out. New Directions and Kurt's new Glee club The Warblers had tied, both teams going through to Regionals.

On Monday at school Rachel and Finn talked. They were on the verge of sorting things out, both accepting that each of them had made mistakes, been guilty of disregarding the other. Rachel, in her wisdom, thought that she had better make a full confession after Finn admitted that he loved her.

"Last week, when we were fighting," she said, her voice rough with emotion. "I was so mad at you, so hurt that I wanted to make you feel as bad as I felt," she told Finn, looking into his eyes. She told him what had happened with Puck. "I'm so sorry and it will never, ever happen again," she insisted tremulously.

Finn looked hurt. "I knew you were a lot of things, Rachel," he began, "and I loved you because and in spite of all of them, but I never thought you were mean," he finished, looking at Rachel almost in disgust.

From just inside the doorway of the nearby classroom, out of sight of Finn and Rachel, Quinn overheard every word. And she was pissed. Severely pissed. 'Oh my God world watch out' pissed.

Actually, when Rachel thought about it, if she had chosen anyone else to make out with Finn might have been able to tolerate it, but Puck? Why did she have to choose Puck? Why did she have to be so stupid? Finn would never forgive her now. Not ever.

The next few weeks were especially uncomfortable in Glee club. More so after Artie was slushied by more than half of the football team. Mr Schue and Coach Beiste's solution of forcing their two teams to combine didn't work out so well. Initially there was resistance from the likes of Karofsky and Azimio. That just increased after Puck and Rachel sang Need You Now together. Rachel had wanted to make Finn jealous and in a way it worked, not how she'd thought, but it worked. Quinn watched the performance from the edge of her seat, away from Sam's arm laid across the back of her chair, her breath coming in excited little gasps as it did every time she heard Puck sing. Quinn caught Santana watching her and sat back, leaning against Sam's arm.

Puck and Finn finally talked. Standing in front of the sparsely populated trophy cabinet Puck took responsibility for causing the tension in their friendship by getting Quinn pregnant and by making out with Rachel. In more or less silent brotherhood language they managed to work things out, be best friends again. Puck actually felt a whole lot lighter. He realised how much he'd missed Finn, missed the camaraderie between them.

Coach Sylvester, by being incredibly mean, managed to throw yet another spanner in the works. After both teams had practiced and actually enjoyed singing together and getting zombiefied, Coach Sylvester made sure that the Cheerios would not be available to cheer for the football team at the most important game of the season. Rick 'the stick' Nelson took the opportunity to raise the power of the hockey team by slushie-ing all of the guys in their zombie makeup and making a ridiculous comment about them turning gay. That freaked Karofsky more than anyone could know but it also ensured that the football team would not continue singing with New Directions. They even accepted Coach Beiste's edict that if they didn't sing, they didn't play.

The sadly depleted team gathered on the field to face their opponents. There didn't seem much hope for the Titans, just a few of the actual team, Artie in his wheelchair and a few of the girls making up their number. Things weren't going well. After yet another humiliating trouncing it was finally half time. They were relieved to hear the whistle. Finn sent Puck to talk to the rest of the team and convince them to perform in the half time show. By whatever stroke of miracle, he did. They all got ready in their zombie gear. Finn went to convince Quinn, Brittany and Santana to rejoin them too. And they did. The show was absolutely fantastic. To freak out their opponents, they kept the zombie gear on and started the second half with an advantage. All the guys were there and ready to play.

Winning the championship game was something that McKinley Titans had only ever dreamed about before. Sometimes dreams come true. And that one did. The only thing was, it had a strange effect on Finn. He seemed to think that it made him invincible or irresistible to girls or something. The way he announced that he was going to run a kissing booth to raise money for the Glee club was really kind of embarrassing. Like he thought everyone would be grateful or something. Quinn saw an opportunity. She did not discuss it with Puck. She didn't feel guilty about that either, well, he hadn't discussed with her about making out with Rachel - and he still didn't know that she knew about that - and he hadn't warned her that he'd be singing with Rachel either, so tough, Quinn decided this one all by herself.

Quinn managed just by giving the tiniest hint of a flirty look in Finn's direction and deliberately pretending that she hadn't heard Sam talking to her when Finn was walking by, to get Sam jealous. Quinn quickly denied any interest in Finn but continued with the little looks, smiles and other little signs.

Sam found it weird that Quinn hadn't kissed Finn at his booth, even though she kept sending him the flirty little looks. "Oh yeah," Santana whispered. "That's about to blow up in your face," she said to Sam, standing just behind him as he watched Quinn talk to Finn. They both watched Quinn, watched her look up through her lashes, sway a little, her hands behind her back. Classic Fabray flirting.

In the library, Sam finally made Quinn mad enough to put her plan in motion. Sam stood beside them as Quinn paid her dollar and kissed Finn. She made a big show of it being a spectacular kiss. It wasn't, at all, not in comparison to a kiss from Puck, but what better way to make Sam break up with _her_.

Quinn continued with the flirty little looks. Puck watched every one of them and called her on it. "What are you up to?" he asked as he unbuttoned her flowery dress. "Did you pick this thing to wear deliberately?" he asked, getting frustrated by the number of tiny pearl buttons he had to unfasten to be able to get his lips and tongue on her spectacular nipples.

"What do you mean?" Quinn asked, sucking in a breath as Puck's tongue flicked its goal.

"Flirting with Finn," he said, lifting his head just an inch. "Sam's suspicious, Santana's suspicious, Rachel's suspicious, fuck it, they all are," he replied, taking her whole nipple into his mouth and sucking on it.

"Oh that," Quinn smiled, her fingers stroking through his hair. "Finn's a free agent now and if I can get Sam to break up with me then…" she stopped as Puck lifted his head again to look her in the eye.

"No," he said. "That's not cool," he told Quinn. "I'm not doing that to Finn again. It's not fair," he explained.

Quinn pouted. "I don't even know if he'd go for me again," she lied. Quinn knew he absolutely would, she'd already arranged to meet Finn tomorrow, to decide if they wanted to make a go of being together. Quinn did. At least he didn't repulse her as much as Sam did and she still needed a cover story to keep her and Puck a secret. She wasn't completely sure if she loved Puck, loved the relationship with Puck or loved the secrecy of the relationship with Puck. Time would tell, she supposed.

"I didn't think you'd show up," Finn admitted to Quinn as they circled around each other in the auditorium.

"I wasn't sure either," she whispered before they fell into each other's arms, mouths joining, parting, rejoining. There was silence in the auditorium for a long time.

Puck scowled, his gaze following both Quinn and Finn as they left the choir room the next day on their way to see the nurse, both of them apparently suffering from mono. Santana looked triumphant and strangely enough, almost happy as she imparted the news that she'd passed mono on to Finn and that Quinn must have got it from kissing Finn. Neither could deny it.

"You shouldn't be in here, you'll get sick," Quinn croaked to Puck as he lay down on her bed beside her. "How did you get in?" she asked.

"I copied your key when you lived at my house," he admitted, bending to drop a little kiss on her dry, pouty lips. "Can I get you anything?" he asked, "you know, to make you feel better?"

"No, I'm fine," she said, even though she sounded very far from fine. "But really, you have to go, if you get sick too the game will be up for sure," she insisted.

"I won't get sick," Puck promised. "I'm like patient fucking X," he said, "I've had mono so many times they changed the name to Puckerman Disorder," he smiled with a wink.

"I thought that was just your bedroom," Quinn tried to joke, the slight laugh making her cough. "You still better go, my mom will be back soon, she just went out to pick up chicken soup from Breadstix," she told him. Puck kissed her deeply then left, locking the door behind him. He knew she was going to do this thing with Finn, he could see right through her, he really wished she wouldn't though, his and Finn's renewed friendship wasn't strong enough yet to withstand another betrayal. And sure as shit some fucker would find out about him and Quinn and tell the world, he'd put money on it.


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: I make no claim to ownership of anything Glee.**

**A/N: Not strictly following season 2, the end of Quick?**

"Are you going to tell me what's going on with you and Quinn?" Mrs Puckerman asked as Puck tried to sneak back into the house.

"Busted," Puck thought to himself but refrained from saying it out loud. There was still a chance he could deflect this. "Quinn who?" he asked, hanging his jacket up at the bottom of the stairs then heading towards the kitchen.

"Don't give me that Noah," Mrs Puckerman said as she followed her son. "You know very well who. And Judy says Quinn is acting all strange and secretive too," she announced, letting Puck know for sure that his mom and Quinn's mom were keeping tabs on them. "I'm not a fool Noah, don't treat me like one."

"Nothing is going on with me and Quinn," Puck insisted, his fingers crossed on both hands that were shoved in his pockets out of sight of his mom. "I was with Santana but we broke up, I'm with Lauren now," he told her in a bored voice. He thanked God that every time he had to spend any time with Lauren that she was too much of a badass to want to make out. All she ever wanted to do was wrestle and he was picking up some really great tips from her. Puck turned to look his mom in the eye. "I was thinking of bringing Lauren home with me tomorrow after school to meet you," he offered. Yeah, like he'd even thought of that till right this very second.

"I'll be at work tomorrow, you have to be here for Sarah and I'm not comfortable with you being here alone with a girl, not after last year. Leave it till the weekend then invite her for dinner on Saturday," Mrs Puckerman said with a nod, leaving Puck in the kitchen wondering what excuse he could make up for Lauren not making an appearance at dinner. "I'm still on to you Noah Puckerman," she thought to herself, "'with Lauren' my ass, I've seen that girl and there's no way on this planet you are dating her. So who the hell are you covering for if it isn't Quinn Fabray?"

Quinn and Finn were still sick and not at school but at least that meant they didn't have to hear Santana's weird and slightly deranged homage to Sam's lips in her original song and thankfully they also missed Puck's light hearted but insultingly brilliant song to Lauren. Rachel and the rest of the team were under no illusions. They knew how and why both of them were out sick. Finn had passed mono on to Quinn because they'd been secretly meeting and getting it on, cheating on Sam. Sam had swiftly moved his attentions to Santana leaving Puck free to pursue Lauren at Quinn's insistence. Puck knew he was becoming the joke of the school and for that he actually hated Quinn.

Once they were well again and back at school. they reluctantly admitted that they were dating again. Quite a few people watched with interest, some watched with more than a little jealousy. Rachel managed with just a few words and hints to play on all of Finn's insecurities.

"She's cheated on you before, remember," Rachel reminded Finn as they drove slowly, following Quinn's car then parked up.

"I didn't really need reminding of that, but thanks Rachel," Finn replied, his voice distracted as he pointed his camera in Quinn's direction, focusing on the back of her head when she knocked on the door of a seedy looking motel room.

"That wasn't who I thought it was going to be," Rachel said in surprise when the door was opened allowing Quinn to enter. "I seriously thought it would be Noah," she said, checking the glove box for snacks. "I mean, they have history, they have chemistry and you can't help but notice the glances and touches that pass between them every time we do a routine in Glee," Rachel commented, munching on some vegan health crap. "Want some?" she asked happily, thrusting the package towards Finn. Finn shook his head and concentrated on the motel room window.

"Doesn't make it any better," Finn mumbled, his sights now on the silhouettes in the window. "Cheating's cheating, no matter who it's with."

Finn called Quinn out for cheating on him. Puck and Quinn darted freaked out, scared eyes at each other. Shit. How had Finn found out?

"Sam, it's not cool to do that with your friend's girl," Rachel said loudly, hands on hips. "And Quinn, I can't believe you'd do that again to Finn. What is it with you?" she asked, looking with disgust at Quinn.

"There's nothing going on between Sam and I" Quinn insisted, rolling her eyes in faked boredom. She truly wasn't bored at all. She was freaking out big time. "If he followed me to Sam's motel, how many times has he followed me to Puck's or to the janitor's closet? How many times has he seen Puck come to my house?" Quinn thought to herself. She was more than a little relived when no one mentioned anything to do with her and Puck. They were still safe. For now.

Thankfully Sam and Quinn were able to prove that they hadn't been cheating, Quinn had been merely helping out but it scared Puck and Quinn so much that they decided to cool it a little. Not too much, just a little. The janitor's closet was still a fairly busy space, although they only met there a couple of times a week now instead of daily.

"No, I can't see you tonight," Quinn whispered into her phone. "No, really, I have a date with Finn. No, I can't," she insisted time after time when Puck first asked then begged her to break the dates.

Puck was getting pissed off with this answer. "What's going on Quinn?" he asked harshly, "I thought everyone was just a cover so that we could be together but lately it feels like I'm the cover for you to get with Finn. What? You suddenly realise it's the only way to be Miss Popular?" he heard Quinn chewing on her lip and knew she didn't have an answer for him. "Well, fuck it," he said, "give me a call when it all goes tits up again," then hung up on her.

Puck laid back on his bed and sighed heavily, his hands under his head, staring at the ceiling. Fuck Quinn and her plans. Fuck 'em all. Maybe he wouldn't even get on the plane to come back from New York. Now that they'd won Regionals and knew for sure they were going to New York he might just stay there. That's where Beth was. Maybe he could convince Ms Corcoran to let him meet his little girl. Puck closed his eyes and tried to picture what she would look like now. Would she have Quinn's eyes? His smile? Would she instinctively know who he was? Puck fell asleep to dream of a little blond haired tyke with a wicked smile.

Quinn hated not seeing as much of Puck as she had until just recently and to be honest, she missed him. Missed his own special brand of humour, his little ways of cheering her up, making her feel special. But there was something really important that she had to concentrate on. Prom. She had to be fully committed to Finn if she was going to get that crown. And Quinn _needed_ that crown. She needed it in a way that she had never needed anything else in her life before. More than she needed food, more than she needed air, more than she needed Puck. And he knew it.

Lauren brought the big guns out to play. She had more than a little suspicion that her 'boyfriend' wasn't really _her_ boyfriend. She had seen how Quinn and Puck had looked at each other across the room at the stupid celibacy club, she had heard the teasing in Puck's voice when he questioned Quinn about the hickie on her neck. There was just a little something that niggled at Lauren, a suspicion that wouldn't quite quit. But she hadn't got on the boys wrestling team by giving up at the first hurdle. She'd dig and dig till she got what she needed then watch out Fabray, 'cos Zizes is coming after you.

Quinn's campaign for Prom Queen was derailed by Lauren Zizes. What made it hurt worse was that Puck had helped Lauren to find the dirt on her.

"I can't believe you did that to me," Quinn told Puck, her eyes full of hurt, full of tears. "You _know_ what that crown means to me and you helped her to sabotage me. Why?" she whispered. "Why would you do that?"

"Why?" Puck repeated. "Because after everything that's happened between us, been between us, I'm still not good enough for you. It's been two years and you still won't admit to _anyone_ that what we had was more than just a one night thing. Not even your 'boyfriend' knows that we were together, we were having sex long before he ever even asked you out," he said, his breath coming in gasps, he could barely contain himself. "Just admit it, we've been together since the start of freshman year, you're just too afraid of what people will think, the pretty little princess and the Jew," he ended abruptly. Puck knew what he wanted to say to her, he wanted to say that if he hadn't been Jewish, if he'd been the all American Christian boy that her family approved of there's no way she would have given up their daughter. But he couldn't make himself do it. That would be like admitting that he thought that himself. "Can you even admit to yourself that you cheated on me with Finn rather than the other way around?" he asked sadly, watching her face for a long moment. "No," he answered himself, "thought not," he added quietly as he turned and walked away from her.

Things between Puck and Quinn cooled even further. They were barely even looking at each other these days, never mind talking. Forget sneaking around and getting into each other's pants. The janitor's closet was pretty quiet these days. The janitor was pleased even if no one else knew it. He could get his lunch on time and without having to disinfect his bench first.

Having to sing a really lame song at Coach Sylvester's sister's funeral sucked big time but Puck sucked it up along with the rest of them. Even Mr Schue helped out, reading the eulogy when Coach Sue couldn't say another word. It was actually quite moving. After the service Puck didn't drive away from the chapel straight away. He watched what was happening in Finn's car from his vantage point behind another truck. He saw Quinn start to cry, he saw her get out of the car and saw Finn drive away. Puck couldn't leave her there. They might have fought a lot recently, but he still had feelings for her.

"Get in," Puck said as he pushed open the passenger door. "Quick, before anyone sees us," he muttered sadly, used to sneaking around with her. "You wouldn't want Finn to find out that we've been seen together and make him think you're cheating on him again, would you?" he asked, totally insincerely.

"Doesn't matter," Quinn sniffed as she climbed in his truck and pulled the door shut. "We're through, it's over. He doesn't want me, apparently I don't 'feel enough'," she said with a sob. "I'm too cold, I don't have any emotions," she looked at Puck and waited for him to refute Finn's claims.

"What?" Puck asked. "You want me to deny any of that?" he asked, his eyebrows raised in question. "Right on the fucking money, I'd say," he muttered, checking the traffic before pulling out onto the street.

"You think that too?" Quinn asked, her voice rising.

"Maybe," Puck shrugged, concentrating on driving. "I mean, when have you ever shown any emotions about Beth?" he asked. "Have you ever? Have you ever even said her name? Thought about her?" he demanded.

"I think about her every day," Quinn whispered, heartbroken. "Don't you ever _dare_ say I don't think about her," she hissed at Puck. "You have no idea how hard it was for me," she claimed.

"And you think it wasn't hard for me?" he shouted. "_You_ were the one who decided, _you _were the one who didn't want to keep her. I didn't get a fucking choice," he yelled, the anger and frustration that he'd felt for almost a full year bubbling up to the surface. "If you weren't such a selfish bitch she'd..." he stopped, going quiet, realising he'd gone too far.

"She'd what?" Quinn asked quietly, icily. "Be here with us now? Is that what you were going to say? With a screwed up, fucked up, emotionless mother and a jailbird father? Is that what you want for our daughter?" she asked. "Because I sure as fuck don't. Stop the car." Quinn demanded. "Let me out, I'll walk," she insisted.

"Don't be fucking stupid," Puck spat back at her. "I'll drop you at your house, I don't think either of our mothers has anything to worry about anymore, do you?" he asked wearily.

"No," Quinn replied, just as tiredly, sadly. "No they don't. I'm done with you."

New York didn't turn out to be quite the dream that everyone hoped it would be. Puck didn't get to meet with either Ms Corcoran or Beth. It wasn't through lack of trying but Quinn had beaten him to the punch. Midway through their stay Quinn had disappeared for the day. She didn't tell anyone where she was going and came back to the hotel in a dreadful state. Santana and Brittany helped sort her out a little. They had no idea what she'd been up to and took her crying about everyone except her finding love at face value. Santana did the only sensible thing when a girl felt so bad about herself. She gave Quinn a haircut.

"Fuck," Puck breathed into Quinn's ear, standing just behind her in the wings as they waited to go on stage. "You look hot like a pixie," he whispered. "Makes me want to throw you down and fuck you right here," he said with a grin.

Quinn didn't turn round but she smiled. She felt her whole being lighten. "You won't get the chance again, asshole, but thanks for the ego boost," she replied as she skipped out to make her first appearance on a New York stage.


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: I do not claim any ownership of Glee or the characters. Their thoughts that were not broadcast I admit came from my mind.**

**A/N: The beginning of senior year, spun just a little differently, just the way I like it. Up to and just crossing into Hot Like A Pixie.**

"She's the one that got away," Puck sighed, "really, really slowly," he added under his breath. He wasn't quite sure if his mom had done it to punish him after Quinn had openly admitted to both of their moms exactly what she and Puck had been to each other throughout the last couple of years, but his mom had kept inviting Lauren over for dinner three or four times a week, despite Puck telling her that he wasn't dating Lauren anymore. In fact, when his mom had let slip that she knew about him and Quinn, it answered a lot of questions. The continued chats with Judy Fabray that ended abruptly when Puck entered the room, the ever growing stack of safe sex pamphlets that kept appearing on his nightstand, the chats from Rabbi Heller and yes, his mom was still dragging his sorry ass to temple every Saturday morning, no excuses accepted.

"Where's Quinn?" Puck heard someone ask, bringing him back to the present.

"MIA," Artie answered. "No one's seen or heard from her all summer," he said, looking round, shrugging.

Mr Schuester looked around at his reduced team. He sighed and wondered how they would possibly be able to recruit new members. Ideas hadn't been forthcoming from the students still in front of him. Competition this year was looking like a no go.

After Glee, Puck waited at his locker for Finn to catch up with him. He caught sight of a familiar figure strolling down the hall. Familiar yet not. He took a deep breath, his interest sparked.

As Quinn sauntered down the hall she deliberately kept her gaze from meeting Puck's. She'd seen him stood, leaning against the lockers, saw the eyebrow rise, knew from old what that look on his face meant. "Get in line Puckerman," Quinn thought to herself. "There's a whole bunch of guys out there who can make me feel alive, I don't need you." As that last thought passed through her head Quinn felt a tremble deep in the pit of her stomach. Yes. It was time to let go of the past. Time for a new Quinn Fabray. The new look was phase one. Phase two would be the new friends. Phase three was still only in the planning stages, but it was the one that she couldn't stop thinking about. The one that was keeping her up at night thinking about it. And this time she wouldn't take no for an answer.

Santana and Brittany, back in their Cheerio uniforms and back in the good graces of Sue Sylvester, tried to get Quinn to rejoin their number. Tried to get Quinn to revert to 'squeaky clean, holier than thou' Quinn. Quinn disregarded all of their efforts and advised them to "deal with it."

Rachel tried to appeal to Quinn's love of performing. She asked Quinn to come back to Glee, her words both insulting and at the same time endearing. Quinn chose to ignore it all.

Quinn made sure she was on hand, along with her new constant companions, her cigarettes, when former Warbler turned New Directions team member, Blaine Anderson performed in the courtyard. Quinn had overheard Sue telling Santana to start a protest involving the purple pianos. Santana, being the delinquent that she was, took that to mean start a fire. Santana added the fuel, Quinn took the opportunity to add the flame. Blaine got the blame.

Quinn watched in secret, spying on her former team mates doing what they did best, rocking out to a brilliantly energetic and colourful number. She remembered hiding there before, before she ever joined Glee, before her life went to hell, before her future went down the toilet. Yet she felt envious.

Puck, from his position at the rear of the stage playing his guitar had a perfect view of Quinn up in the rafters watching them. If he'd been another couple of paces further forwards, the lights would have blinded him to her. If he'd been a couple of paces further back, he wouldn't have been able to see the balcony at all. Fate had put him there to see her, to keep his appetite whetted. As much as he denied it to his mom, to his friends, to everyone, Puck would probably never be completely cured of his need to touch, to taste, to love Quinn Fabray. "Yeah, good luck on getting any of that ever again, Puckerman," he mocked himself silently.

The biggest shock to Quinn's system happened just a couple of weeks later. The one person she never, ever wanted to speak to again, except via a lawyer, stood in front of her. Puck had tricked Quinn into walking into that classroom with him. Curiosity had made Quinn ignore her survival instinct of 'flight'. Being confronted by the bitch who had ruined everything in New York brought out Quinn's 'fight' instinct. The plans got a major boost. Just when Quinn thought her dream was within her grasp, everything was snatched away from her, yet again. Shelby actually said that she wanted Quinn to meet Beth, be part of her life, but in order to do that she had to change. All Quinn heard was "yes you can see her, no you can't," it didn't make any sense to Quinn at all. The kicker was that Puck had already been welcomed into the fold, had met their most wonderful creation, had even had his picture taken while cuddling her daughter. Hers. Her baby. Not Shelby's. Hers. And yet Quinn was still being denied.

Quinn felt her pulse rate rise as she caught sight of Puck in the bathroom mirror. Only the deep-seated training from Judy Fabray, the 'never show your emotions' training helped Quinn to carry on fixing her eye make up, ignore the flutter in her abdomen, keep her breathing steady. She listened as Puck at first insulted her then told her how wonderful her baby was. Quinn stopped hearing him for a second, she could see his mouth moving but didn't listen to a word he said. All she could concentrate on was his lips and the occasional glimpse of his tongue. Quinn couldn't think of a single millimeter of her body that hadn't been caressed by those lips. Quinn blinked, came back to awareness, a thought struck her. He was talking about her cleaning up her act and actually meeting Beth. Spending time with her one perfect thing. Being in the same room, breathing the same air. "My baby, my baby, I want my baby," she almost cried out loud. Judy Fabray had taught her daughter well, Quinn kept it all inside. She watched Puck walk away, a new plan forming in her besotted brain.

A more mature version of the old Quinn made her way to the auditorium where New Directions were attempting to make a dancer out of Finn. "Sow's ear, silk purse," thought Quinn, watching Finn humiliate himself one more time. "Oh well, he's good for the comedy value at least," she thought. "How did I ever convince myself that I wanted to be with him?" she almost shuddered as that thought went through her head. Quinn heard herself force out a few words, sounding both apologetic and pleading, needing to be back on the team, needing to be near Puck. She had to get close to him again, he was already visiting her daughter, he knew where she lived, had held her and Quinn had seen how Shelby had looked Puck up and down in that classroom the other day. Maybe Puck's penchant for million year old cougars could help Quinn to get back what was rightfully hers. Actually, it wasn't really a maybe. He fucking better help her get Beth back.

For a very brief time Puck felt that all was right with his world. Quinn was back in it, Beth was back in it, albeit in a very limited way, only on the periphery, but she was there. Real flesh and blood. His flesh and blood. His baby girl. The more time he spent with Beth, the more he needed to be part of her life on a permanent basis. Puck and Quinn jumped at the chance of babysitting their little girl. And that was when Puck realised there was something slightly unhinged about Quinn. She definitely wasn't firing on all cylinders. I mean, who in their right mind would screw up the opportunity that Shelby had given them to spend time alone with Beth by planting stuff in the apartment? Stuff that could ruin Shelby, hurt Beth. What fucking planet was Quinn on?

Puck couldn't stand it any more. He had to take care of the shit that Quinn had planted. He made up a ridiculously lame excuse to visit and managed to confiscate just about everything Quinn had left there. He also got a moment to sing to his amazingly, stunningly beautiful daughter, watched as she fell asleep listening to his voice. He couldn't help but feel full of love and pride. He'd actually been able to sing her to sleep, something he'd only ever dreamed about before. Then he felt the connection. His heart skipped a beat as he lay his hand over Shelby's, offered her his unwavering support, help whenever she needed it. Puck's mouth felt dry, his hand tingled where it touched her skin. He knew he had to have her. Be with her.

In school Puck spent as much time as he could with Quinn. He had to know what she was doing every minute of the day, he had to be sure she wasn't doing anything more that could possibly put an end to him being with Beth.

"I called CPS," Quinn told Puck, leading him into an empty classroom, "they're overrun with cases right now, but we should have Beth back within the month," she said proudly. Quinn drew in a deep breath. Her one perfect thing would soon be back where she belonged. Where she should have been all the time, would have been if that bitch hadn't stolen her, taken her when Quinn was at her lowest, taken advantage when Quinn hadn't been making the best decisions. It was all her fault. Shelby's. If Shelby hadn't taken Beth then the three of them would be together, Puck would be the doting daddy, she would be the yummy mummy, and Shelby would be the bitter, twisted desperate housewife that she had been before. It was all Shelby's fault. It was. It wasn't Quinn's fault. Not at all.

Puck found himself spending more and more time at Shelby's apartment. He even offered to build the crib that was currently still in pieces, waiting for a daddy type person to fix it all together. That idea didn't actually pan out so well. Puck was useless at DIY and ended up walking round the room with Beth, talking to her in a silly voice while Shelby cracked on and did the hard work. Then came the betrayal. The ultimate sin.

"You and Beth were meant to be together," Puck said just a touch sadly, but he meant the words sincerely. "Me and Quinn," he shook his head, "we weren't ready to be parents, too young to be parents, I mean, look at us now," he laughed. "We can barely be in the same room as each other. It really pi….annoys me," he substituted the word quickly as Beth looked at him with Quinn's beautiful eyes, "what Quinn is trying to do to you, to both of you. It's not fair, she shouldn't be allowed to get away with it. I mean, it was her decision to give Beth up in the first place, she can't just change her mind now and get her back, can she?" he looked then at Shelby's stricken face, saw how upset, scared she was at the thought of her baby being taken away from her. Puck promised he wouldn't let that happen. Shelby found herself trusting Puck just that little bit more.

There were more than a few moments that Puck almost said out loud that he was in lust with Shelby. He sang Hot For Teacher in Glee, totally inappropriately, he rarely managed to drag his eyes off of her when she was in the choir room. He raced through the halls to 'bump' into her in unexpected places and when he sang a song that was intended to be sung to Santana, in support of Santana, he actually sang it to Shelby. One person noticed and did not like what she saw.

Quinn approached Puck at his locker, her hips swaying as she walked, her 'supermodel everyone look at me' walk. The walk that had got Puck hard enough to hammer nails in the past. Now it barely caused a stir in his pants.

Quinn made her offer. Puck refused in quite lyrical fashion. Quinn pouted.

On Friday morning Puck's phone rang in the middle of his math class. "You're go for Puckerman," he said as he answered, ignoring the frown from his teacher. "I'll be right there," he said, standing and picking up his bag.

"Class isn't over Mr Puckerman," the teacher said as Puck got to the door.

"Sorry," he replied, glancing over his shoulder at the teacher, "family emergency," was all the information he would give.

Meeting Shelby at the hospital and taking over when she looked like falling to pieces made Puck feel like Superman. The fact that Shelby showed her gratitude physically made him feel like Superstud. He liked both feelings.

"This was a mistake," Shelby told him, the shame on her face didn't make her words any easier to listen to. "You have to go, please," she insisted, "before Beth wakes up." Puck didn't take the rejection well.

Puck found himself outside a familiar front door. He rang the bell and waited.

"The beehive bite back?" Quinn asked as she answered the door and saw who stood on the step.

"Fuck you Quinn," Puck muttered, ready to turn round and go home. "You still want to do this?" he asked. "Still want to have sex with me? Cos I'm all ready to go," he told her, stepping over the threshold and grabbing her into his arms.

Quinn's last coherent thought as her arms wound round Puck's neck was, "Finally, I'm going to get my own piece of heaven."


End file.
